“don’t ever get stale.”
Emma would have then turned to her so-called friend to gape
in outraged shock if she hadn’t seen the dark light glittering in Ben’s eyes as
he put his beer to his lips. “I’ll take that bet,” he said after a slow swallow
then licked his lips. “And don’t worry, Sugar, I can make it last.”
When her mouth dropped open, he laughed and got up to move
toward the house, yelling at his twin to toss him another beer.
Had that really just happened? He was barely civil toward
her and now all of sudden he wanted to help fuck her into a better writer?
“What the hell’s the matter with you?” Emma hissed when Ben
was safely out of earshot.
Chloe shot her a sly smile, as though all had gone according
to plan. Well, it had, hadn’t it? “Hey, at least it got you a man to try out
your experiment with, didn’t it? And a damn fine man, too.”
“Oh come on, like he really meant all that. I’m sure he was
just playing along with you.” Had to be, right?
“Hmm…I dunno. I’ve never known Ben to joke about anything
like that, have you?” she asked Kim.
Smiling as if she’d been in on Chloe’s plan all along, Kim
said, “Nope. He’s not really the joking type.”
“Usually when he says he’s going to do something he does
it.” Chloe narrowed her eyes. “And don’t act like you’re upset about this. You
forget, I know you too well. You can’t hide the fact that you want him.”
“That’s beside the point,” Emma grudgingly admitted. “I
didn’t expect you to tell everyone and their brother about my problem, Chloe.”
“I didn’t tell his brothers, just him.” Chloe laughed when
Emma glared. “How did you expect to find someone to help you out if you weren’t
going to tell anyone you’re interested?”
Emma opened her mouth to reply, had nothing, then closed it.
Chloe had a point there. But still. “It’s one thing to let a man know that I’m
interested and quite another to lay it all out on the line. Tell him that no
man has ever given me an orgasm before. Nothing like putting on the pressure.”
Shaking her head, Chloe said sagely, “If you don’t present a
challenge to them up front you’re just going to have more of the same
experiences in bed. This way, they know they have to work harder. It’s a male
ego thing,” she waved her hand in the air as if everybody knew that, silly. And
apparently everyone did because Kim was nodding in agreement.
It made sense. But Emma was still pissed Chloe hadn’t given
her any warning before she opened her big mouth, so she ignored it. “Besides, I
figured that I would just hook up with one of the fighters while I’m here
anyway.”
The incredulous expression on Chloe’s face was comical but
Emma refused to laugh. “Why would you want one of the fighters when you have Ben freaking Serano ?”
Well that was just it, wasn’t it? She’d only known him for
less than a day but she didn’t want anyone else now that she’d met him. Rude
behavior and all. But come on. Didn’t men like him usually go after stick
figures with a low IQ who were too vapid and self-absorbed to notice how closed
off he was? She had a healthy self-image but no way someone as gorgeous and
private as Ben would want her with her inquisitive intellect and her size
twelve figure.
No, she figured she’d have to scale it down just a bit. After
all, she wasn’t looking for Mr. Right at the moment. Just someone who could
make her come so hard she forgot her own name. Ben was a little too complex for
something so simple.
Oh she knew that he’d want to keep it simple but his
complexity would spark her curiosity until she couldn’t leave it at just sex. She’d
want to know more, delve deeper and that wouldn’t be good for either of them.
So she let the conversation drop for the moment and moved on
to more pleasant things. But she was resolved to find herself a fighter and
leave Ben Serano and his complicated deliciousness the hell